What to Do in Rio in Late September: Nine Free Things
Rio de Janeiro · Culture
The Semana de Arte do Rio and the harp festival have closed, but what is left of the month is almost all free: Central American cinema at the CCBB, recorders at the Forte de Copacabana on the 29th, and a lunchtime concert on the 30th to end it. Here are the last days of September, day by day.
RIO DE JANEIRO — There is a great deal to do in Rio in September, and very little of it is written down anywhere in English. This guide is the monthly selection for people who live here rather than visit: what is on, where, when, what it costs, and why it might be worth crossing the city for. Most of the entries below are free.
Rock in Rio, the MIMO weekend and the first Semana de Arte do Rio are all behind us now. What is left of Rio in September is quieter and cheaper: the Central American film season at the CCBB runs on into October, Música no Museu plays the Forte de Copacabana on the 29th, and the month closes at the CCBB on the 30th with a free lunchtime concert. Several of the exhibitions below also carry over into October, so the last days of the month are a good moment to catch up on them. Plan accordingly.
Also running now
Every Saturday, from midnight
Rock-blues at the Bukowski, the oldest rock bar in the city
Bar Bukowski, Rua Álvaro Ramos 270, Botafogo · R$39.90 (about US$8) at the door, free from 1am on the guest list
Botafogo’s Bukowski has been a rock house for decades and has just added a weekly blues night. The Charles Zanol Trio plays from midnight: Zanol has thirty years of blues, rockabilly and country behind him, with Pedro Leão on guitar and Dawton Mendes on drums and cajón. R$39.90 (about US$8) at the door includes a drink if you arrive before 10pm; R$99.90 (about US$19) gives you R$80 (about US$15) back in food and drink. Put your name on the guest list through @barbukowski and entry is free from 1am. The bar runs from 7pm to 5am.
Late September
Until 19 October
Soy Loco por Ti, Centroamérica — Central American cinema at the CCBB
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rua Primeiro de Março 66, Centro · Free
Twenty-one features and shorts from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, most of them never before screened in Brazil: the Locarno winner Tengo sueños eléctricos, the Cannes Caméra d’Or winner Nuestras Madres and La Llorona, the first Central American film nominated for a Golden Globe. A masterclass with curator Laura Bermúdez follows the opening on 26 September, and a Central American documentary debate on 30 September.
Tuesday 29 September, 6pm
Recorders and voices at the Forte de Copacabana
Museu do Exército, Forte de Copacabana, Praça Cel. Eugênio Franco 1, Posto 6 · Free
The recorder ensemble Fino Som and the vocal group Vozes Encanto play international classics, directed by Nelma Pataro. The fort sits on the rocks at the end of Copacabana beach and the view alone carries the evening.
Wednesday 30 September, 12.30pm
Mignone, 40 anos de saudade — the month closes at the CCBB
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rua Primeiro de Março 66, 4th floor, Centro · Free
Five pianists mark forty years since the death of Francisco Mignone, one of the central figures of Brazilian concert music, with video testimony from the composer between the pieces. A good last free hour of Rio in September.
Until 4 December
The Jazz Room: a Sinatra and Armstrong tribute
Teatro Rival Petrobras, Rua Álvaro Alvim 33, Cinelândia · From R$100 (about US$19)
The Rival’s long-running tribute evening — the American songbook with a live band in the Art Deco theatre off Cinelândia. The reliable option when nothing else on this list fits the night.
Opera and orchestras in Rio in September
September
Festival Oficina da Ópera
Theatro Municipal, Cinelândia, Centro · Price from the box office
The Municipal’s September strand brings Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Donizetti’s Il Campanello. The building alone justifies the ticket; it was modelled on the Paris Opera and finished in 1909.
Until 30 September
Música no Museu — free classical concerts
Museums, palaces and churches across Rio · Free
The series is in its twenty-ninth year and puts classical music into museums, palaces and churches at no charge. Two dates are left in Rio in September and both are listed above: the Forte de Copacabana on the 29th and the CCBB on the 30th. The 21st RioHarpFestival, which played twenty-three free concerts inside the Semana de Arte, finished on the 27th. One of the best-value things in the city and almost unknown to new arrivals.
Free all month in Rio in September
Until 12 October
Vik Muniz — season extended
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Centro · Free
Brazil’s most internationally recognised living visual artist, in the show that has been held over. If you see one exhibition this month, this is the one to see.
2 September to 16 November
Amazônicas — Poéticas Femininas
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Centro · Free
Sissa Aneleh curates work by women from the North of Brazil. The reading is decolonial, and it foregrounds Afro-indigenous ancestry. Furthermore, the show uses virtual and augmented-reality elements.
September
African Cinema showcase
Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil cinemas, Centro · Free or low cost
Ten features and six contemporary shorts. Given how little African cinema reaches Brazilian screens, this is the rare chance.
Until late September
Coleção Ingá: Brasil Plural — closing
Centro Cultural Justiça Federal, Centro · Free
Around 200 works come from the Museu de História e Artes do Estado. Among them are Di Cavalcanti, Portinari, Goeldi and Mestre Guarany. The CCJF’s September programme also runs open-air cinema, short-film and Spanish-cinema seasons, choral concerts, flamenco, choro and indigenous music, literary workshops and two theatre productions — nearly all of it free.
Until 10 October, Tuesday to Saturday, midday to 7pm
Inefável Presença — nine painters from one Tijuca studio
Centro Cultural dos Correios, R. Visc. de Itaboraí 20, Centro · Free
Nine artists have shared a studio in Tijuca for seven years. Ayla de Oliveira curates the show, and also exhibits in it. The group formed around a life-drawing class at the UFRJ fine arts school in 2017 and kept meeting on Monday evenings. Figurative painting, unfashionable for a while, now finding buyers.
Planning your Rio in September
Where we have not printed a ticket price, the organisers did not publish one — check with the venue before you travel. Programmes at the CCBB, the Theatro Municipal and the CCJF change during Rio in September, so confirm on the day.
This guide to Rio in September runs monthly, and returns with the October edition. If you run a venue, a gallery or a production in Rio and would like to be considered, write to the newsroom with the date, the time, the address and the ticket price. Those four things are what get an event into the list.
More on living here: our Rio de Janeiro coverage and Expats in Brazil.
Background: BRICS Just Got Bigger — Who’s In, Who’s Still Out, and Why It Matters.
Background: Brazil Focus Survey Shows Weaker Growth, Sticky Inflation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there still anything on in Rio in late September?
Yes: Central American cinema at the CCBB, recorders at the Forte de Copacabana on the 29th and a lunchtime concert on the 30th.
Are the remaining events free?
Almost all of them; most entries in the guide are free.
Which big events have already closed?
Rock in Rio, the MIMO weekend, the first Semana de Arte do Rio and the harp festival.
Who is this guide for?
People who live in Rio rather than visit: what is on, where, when and what it costs.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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